Fisichella Doesn’t Regret Ferrari Move

Giancarlo Fisichella has told the media in Abu Dhabi ahead of his final Grand Prix that he has not regretted moving to Ferrari rreplacing Luca Badoer for the final few rounds of the season.

The Italian left Force India to replace Badoer, himself replacing an injured Felipe Massa, after a fantastic finish in the Belgian Grand Prix and since has failed to score any points with the Ferrari.

Fisichella, who will become the teams 3rd driver for 2010, said it was a childhood dream to race for the Scuderia.

“I think for me, this opportunity to race for Ferrari was a dream I’d had since I was a child and in the end it came true when I had given up hope that it would ever happen,” said Fisichella. “So you should never say never!

“I am very happy with what I have done and I would not turn back the clock, even if I have struggled in these last few races with Ferrari, for the obvious reason that is not easy to get into a car you don’t know, which was made even more complex because of the use of KERS and the fact it handled very differently under braking.

“Recently, I was able to match Kimi’s pace in the race, so this weekend, I hope to have a better qualifying which would be the first step to getting some points.”

Liuzzi Confirmed In Force India Race Seat

Vitantonio Liuzzi has been confirmed in the vacant Force India race seat, a direct promotion from team test driver.

The Italian will get his opportunity now that Giancarlo Fisichella has replaced Felipe Massa’s replacement driver Luca Badoer in the Scuderia Ferrari team.

Talented racer Liuzzi, now 28, has not competitively raced an F1 car since the end of the 2007 season when he was released from contract by Red Bull sister team Scuderia Toro Rosso.

“I’m delighted to give Tonio the opportunity to get back into a race seat, which I know he has been itching to do for the past two years,” said team boss Vijay Mallya.

“Force India is now in a very competitive position and we need a driver who can continue this momentum. This will be the chance for Tonio to demonstrate to both the team and the field that he has the commitment, speed and professionalism to perform and I am sure he will seize this opportunity.”

Liuzzi will get the chance to race until the end of the season, starting with his home Grand Prix next weekend at Monza.

Fisichella To Race For Ferrari Until End Of Season – Full Report

Giancarlo Fisichella will drive for the Scuderia Ferrari F1 Team until the end of the 2009 season, in place of Felipe Massa’s replacement driver Luca Badoer.

Fisichella leaves the Force India team with immediate effect, despite scoring their best finish ever last race out in Belgium with a 2nd place finish.

His former boss Dr. Vijay Mallya commented; “Giancarlo and his management team approached me yesterday with the proposal from Ferrari.

“For any Italian driver, a Ferrari race seat is a long-held dream and for Giancarlo it was no exception. No one should stand in the way of this. Furthermore the agreement will secure Giancarlo’s long-term future with Ferrari and it would be incorrect to jeopardise this, particularly when Giancarlo has made such a vital contribution to Force India.”

It will be even more exciting that just joining Ferrari for Italian Fisichella, because his debut race with the top team will come at the Italian Grand Prix next week.  He will be looking to impress in the Ferrari F60, which took it’s maiden win in the last race at the hands of Kimi Raikkonen.

“We have chosen Fisichella because we can expect him to make a valuable contribution in this final part of the season.” Stefano Domenicali, boss of Ferrari Formula One Team said today

“Giancarlo has shown, throughout his long career, that he is fast and competitive and we are therefore proud to be able to run an Italian driver in our home race.”

Giancarlo Fisichella, known as Fisi to his fans, is still unbelieveably excited at the prospect of racing for Ferrari.  It comes 14 years after he test drove a Ferrari in Maranello.

“I’m in seventh heaven,” Fisichella told the official Ferrari website. “I still can’t believe it – that the dream of my life comes true, and I want to thank Ferrari and Chairman Luca di Montezemolo.

“Over the last week some really incredible things happened to me: the pole position and then second place at Spa and now I’m called by Ferrari to race the last five races of the season for them.

“I’ll give my best to recompense the Scuderia for this great opportunity they gave me: I know that it won’t be easy, but I’ll give it everything to gain the best possible results.”

Massa On Road To Recovery – Fisichella To Ferrari??

Felipe Massa visited a top doctor in Miami, Florida yesterday afternoon for a prognosis of his condition and recovery time, and the results were good.

The doctor suggested following plastic and skull surgery, Massa should be 100% to return to the cockpit in 2010.

“Obviously, the results of examination has been warmly welcomed in Maranello, in the sense that the team can count on Felipe 100% for the start of next season,” said a Ferrari statement.

Meanwhile Massa told Autosport “I’m very happy with the outcome of the tests.  After the small operation I’ll undergo in the next few days, I’ll finally be able to start doing gym exercise to get back in shape a bit and, after that, I’ll be able to start doing some testing on karts.  On track with an F1 car? Let’s go one step at a time: now I’m focused only on starting over with physical activity, which is already a nice step forward.”

The rumour mill now starts the search for a permanent end-of-season replacement for Massa, with Luca Badoer being unlikely to continue after 2 shocking races.  Giancarlo Fisichella looks favourite at the moment, especially with Vitantonio Liuzzi suggesting to Italian media he will be racing in Italy.  Unless of course he means Ferrari not Force India.   Robert Kubica is a name that has been banded around La Gazetta and the like but is totally unconfirmed right now.

Bortolotti Focusing On F2 Not Ferrari Possiblity

MirkoBortolotti has said he is focusing on his Formula 2 career at the moment rather than the possibility of driving for F1 giants Ferrari.

The Italian yougnster has already achieved success in the newly formed F2 series, and following a very successful test in a Ferrari F2008 last year he is being linked with the Felipe Massa/Luca Badoer seat.

Bortolotti is just 19 years old, and the interest has been sparked after the lack of success test driver Luca Badoer achieved.

Depite the focus, Mirko says he is just focusing on F2.

“All I can say is that I’m racing in F2 and I’m not thinking about anything other than the championship,” he said on Wednesday.

“I want to be higher than sixth, so I have to work hard and apply myself 100%. There is still enough time to improve, so if I can get the best possible results hopefully I can move up the order again.

“There has been quite a lot of speculation in Italy surrounding the Ferrari seat. To be honest I think Luca (Badoer) just needs a bit more time to get a feeling for the car.

“Everything has changed since he last raced, but I’m sure he will be quicker at Spa as the pace is there in the car.

“As for me, I’m just focusing on Formula Two. It’s nice to be linked with the team, but my mentality is just to do a good job for the remaining three rounds – after that, I’ll start thinking about my future.”

Bortolotti in the Ferrari

Ferrari Consider Replacing Badoer After Spa

Scuderia Ferrari’s racing director Stefano Domenicali has suggested that Luca Badoer could be replaced after the Belgian Grand Prix next weekend.

Badoer, 38, is standing in for the injured Felipe Massa.  He has been a test driver for many years, and previous to today his last competitive Grand Prix was the 1999 Japanese Grand Prix.  Badoer has underperformed all weekend and finished  alowly 17th today.

Ferrari cannot afford to finish in that position, nor can they afford the consistent fines and penalties Badoer was recieving.  When Badoer crossed the white pitlane line on the track and got a pitlane penalty, Michael Schumacher shook his head slightly and everyone’s hearts dropped.  Badoer said this weekend was a wake-up-call, but he must improve massively in Belgium.

“What I said exactly, to be precise, is that for us the first priority is to understand when Felipe Massa will come back,” Domenicali told reporters after the race.

“For sure it is an important race for Luca Badoer next weekend. We are expecting a big jump from him and then we will see.”

“As I have said before, Ferrari cannot be satisfied with a car in last position,” he continued.

“That is pretty clear, but we need to consider all the circumstances and everything that has happened. I think if you look behind it, for sure it was a difficult weekend for him.

“In terms of race pace, if you look to compare to the other young drivers, you can make your opinion.

“He did a great start and then he was touched from behind so he lost a place, and then in terms of rhythm – everyone was worried this morning about his health, worried about that it was not possible for him to get to the finish and that he would have to go to the hospital. But he was very good.”

Rossi Denies He Will Replace Injured Massa For End Of ‘09

Valentino Rossi has denided rumours circulating in Italian presses that he will fill in for the injured Felipe Massa at one of the remaining Formula One races in 2009.

Massa was injured in a horror shunt in Hungary, and looks set to miss the final races of the 2009 season, one which has been relatively disappointing for both Massa and Scuderia Ferrari.

Michael Schumacher was set to replace Massa but has pulled out with fitness problems.  Ferrari turned to Luca Badoer just one week ahead of the new GP in Valencia.

Rossi has often flirted with the idea of racing for Ferrari, and has tested on two occassions but once again denied he has been approached stating meerly that he could not with Yamaha commitments, and how much of a shame it was that Schumacher would not be racing now.

“It is a true shame not to see Schumacher back with Ferrari,” the Italian rider said in the Czech Republic, ahead of this weekend’s round of the MotoGP series.

“In my opinion he could have been in the fight for victory by his second race.”

“I have spoken a lot with Stefano Domenicali in these last days about the return of Schumi,” he is quoted as saying by Italy’s Tuttosport, “but I have not received an offer.

“Anyway, I cannot go: I can’t race motorbikes and F1 at the same time,” Rossi added.

Schu and Barrichello Happy With Massa Progress

Michael Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello have both declared that they are happy with the progress that Felipe Massa is making in his recovery from that horrific accident in qualifying for the Hungarian Grand Prix.

Schumacher spoke of Massa’s slow, but successful recovery in a press conference, haistly called in Geneva yesterday after Schumacher, 40, decided not to return to Formula One afterall.  He had been conscripted back into Ferrari after Massa’s crash, but has been unable to get fit in time.

“At the time I gave him [Massa] my cockpit I was tired and I wanted him to take over. The good thing is to see that his recovery is going well, he’s very motivated – he’s working not very hard because he’s not allowed to – but it’s good to see his progress and I’m very happy about that.” Schumacher said

Rubens Barrichello of Brawn GP too has spoken of how Massa is recovering after seeing the Brazilian at home.  On his official Twitter feed, Barrichello wrote two posts;

“I spend the afternoon with Felipe…he is fine and exactly the same person as before..thank God.”

“On Felipe’s come back we need to be patient…he has to be 100% before driving again,”

Burti Calls For More Visor Safety After Massa Incident

Luciano Burti, a former F1 driver who is probably best known for his huge accident at the 2001 German Grand Prix, or even at the Belgian Grand Prix of the same season has called on the FIA to increase helmet safety even further.

Burti, a fellow Brazilian race driver of Massa’s crashed heavily at the Belgian GP of 2001, when he clashed with Eddie Irvine of Jaguar and his Prost was embedded deep into the tyre wall.  His helmet was badly damaged, much more so than Massa’s and left him with a brain concussion – pretty much why his F1 career came to an end so quickly.

Burti admitted that Carbon Fibre helmets have proven to be stronger in Massa’s case, however Burti cites his visor being in-tact because of 4 screws whereas Massa’s collapsed because it is only held by 2 screws to save on weight.  Luciano wants the FIA to make 4 screws compulsory.

“After Felipe’s accident at the Hungaroring, I can see the helmet’s evolution since my accident in the Belgium GP 2001,” said Burti, who now commentates on F1 for Brazilian TV.

“Looking at the pictures of my helmet, we can see that if it was made of carbon fibre, like they are today, the damage would have been be less significant.

“This shows the merit of the FIA and helmet constructors on improving drivers’ safety.

“But at the same time, I would like to point something out. You can see on my helmet, even with the strong front impact against the tyre barriers, the visor remained attached because it was fixed by four screws, different than most helmets which have two screws only for visor fixing (to reduce weight).

“But on Felipe’s accident, we could see the visor became loose because the screw didn’t resist the strong impact, and with the face exposed, he could have suffered worse consequences, especially on the face and eyes.”

Luciano Burti came to Formula One in 2000, racing a single GP with the Jaguar team finishing in 11th place.  The team signed him as a driver for 2001, but he was fired after just 5 races.  He managed to secure a seat at Prost however when Gaston Mazzacane was released, and Burti continued racing.  After the Belgian GP crash he never raced an F1 car again competitively, but worked as a test driver with Ferrari until 2004 when he conceded his injuries were too bad for him to race again.

Luciano Burti's huge crash at the German GP, the first of two massive incident for the Brazilian...

Felipe Massa Cleared To Continue Recovery At Home

Felipe Massa has been given confirmation that he may now complete his recovery from a major accident at the Hungarian Grand Prix at home in Brazil, a spokesperson from Ferrari told us.

Massa left the AEK hospital where the bulk of his treatment took place two days ago to fly home to Brazil.  He went to the Albert Einstein hospital in Sao Paolo where doctors told him to go home and look after himself.

Massa was hit in the face by a spring which failed on the back of the Brawn GP car during qualifying for the Hungarian Grand Prix. He was left unconscious and confused about the crash, which he does not have any recollection of.  Initial fears were that Massa would be blinded in one eye from the incident, but these fears were availed – however his left eye remains very swollen.

For the European Grand Prix, Ferrari have recruited their most successful driver ever back to the seat; the 7 time world champion Michael Schumacher.

“Felipe has had a remarkable recovery,” said Massa’s personal doctor Dino Altmann.

“We did a series of in-depth tests and the outcome is very encouraging so that we, together with the hospital’s medical staff, decided that it wouldn’t be currently necessary to further intervene from a surgical point of view.

“The best thing for him now is to go back home, where he can calmly convalesce and rehabilitate.”

The remains of the F60 after Massa's huge shunt